RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday welcomed a joint statement issued by seven European and Western countries condemning Israel’s construction tender for a settlement project in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.
Abbas called on the Israeli government to immediately abandon the plan, warning that separating the northern West Bank from its southern areas and isolating East Jerusalem would constitute a serious violation of international law, particularly UN Security Council Resolution 2334.
He said such measures would also undermine efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders.
President Abbas welcomes joint statement opposing Israel’s E1 settlement planhttps://t.co/rcAxoDZDbo pic.twitter.com/87zPa25glQ
— WAFA News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) August 21, 2026
The Palestinian president urged the countries that signed the relevant agreements, the European Union, the UN Security Council and the wider international community to turn their stated positions into concrete action.
الخارجية// ترحب بالبيان المشترك لقادة المملكة المتحدة وفرنسا وألمانيا وإيطاليا وهولندا وكندا والنرويج الرافض لمخطط «E1» الاستيطاني وتدعو إلى ترجمة الموقف الدولي إلى إجراءات عملية
ترحب وزارة الخارجية والمغتربين لدولة فلسطين، بالبيان المشترك الصادر عن قادة المملكة المتحدة وفرنسا… pic.twitter.com/HiMJYWx7oc
— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) August 20, 2026
He called for measures to halt settlement activity and for the international community to reject any recognition of unlawful changes imposed on occupied Palestinian territory.
Key European nations demand Israel halt West Bank settlement
“The E1 settlement will undermine the prospect of the two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank and harming the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories,” reads the statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway.
They condemned Israel’s decision to publish construction tenders for a settlement project in E1, which is a strategically sensitive area of the occupied West Bank between East Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim.
The governments said the international community has long opposed Israeli settlement expansion. They reaffirmed that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, citing the position of the United Nations Security Council.
They said the decision was particularly concerning amid what they described as grave instability in the West Bank.
They highlighted with disapproval the unprecedented levels of violence by Israeli settlers against civilians and serious restrictions on the Palestinian economy.
Also Read: Key European Leaders Demand Israel Halt West Bank Settlement
The leaders urged Israel to withdraw the plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank. Israel’s settlement policy would further undermine prospects for peace and further hurt its international standing.
Israel’s settlement threatens contiguity of the State of Palestinian
In the two-state formula supported by the United Nations, the Palestinian state is envisaged as a single, viable and sovereign territory, rather than a collection of disconnected enclaves.
Recent UN statements explicitly describe the envisioned Palestinian state as “contiguous” and include both the West Bank and Gaza as part of that state. The framework is based on the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem envisaged as the capital of both states.
This is why the geography of illegal settlements matters to the peace process. Territorial contiguity means that Palestinian areas in the West Bank should remain sufficiently connected to function as one state.
Contiguity is essential to allow people, goods and institutions to move between different parts of the territory without being separated by Israeli settlements, roads or other permanent infrastructure.
